PENKRIDGE community leaders who are against major plans for a rail hub which could churn up acres of nearby countryside are to put in their official objections.

The multi-million pound rail interchange plan has caused a storm of controversy since it was announced last year by developers Four Ashes for land close to the M6 at Gailey.

Many householders, including the Stop the Gailey Freight Hub Group, are fighting it amid the loss of green belt land and impact on traffic. Campaigners say the developers have no idea on how this could impact not only residents in Gailey but also in Penkridge and even Stafford. Neighbouring parish councils, including Brewood, have already submitted their objections.

At a meeting of Penkridge Parish Council last week Councillor Calvert Stonehouse said they needed to speed up the process as Penkridge was lagging behind.

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When chairman Councillor David Oldfield said suggested the possibility of setting up a working group to consider its response Mr Stonehouse said: “Enough has been said about this. I think we know the objections.

“I would suggest by the end of this month we should have a submission. We should not delay it much longer as we will be lagging behind.

“We should all contact the council clerk with anything we need to add and she can put something together. I don’t think we need to set up another group.

“All other councils have put in submissions. We are right next to this planned development and still haven’t got them in. I think we should do this before October. If the PA can circulate the response around councillors for everyone to approve by the end of the month that would be helpful. We all know what the objections are.”

The application is likely to go in next year and if approved, the developers say the rail hub could create up to 8,500 new jobs and provide around 800,000 square metres of rail-served warehousing and service buildings. The rail freight terminal would have connections to the West Coast Main Line and accommodate around 10 trains per day.